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NEW DELHI: Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to increase World Cup squad sizes from 15 to 17 players for the 2027 ODI World Cup. His comments come after the ICC introduced a new format that could see finalists play up to 15 matches, making the tournament longer and more physically demanding.McDonald believes larger squads would help teams deal with injuries and changing playing conditions, especially after Australia and New Zealand struggled with injured players during the 2023 World Cup.“One of the big things from my perspective is if it’s going to be your pinnacle event, what do your squad sizes look like? We had the dilemma of what it looked like having a 15-player squad for the last World Cup,” McDonald said.He pointed out that players like Travis Head and Kane Williamson missed matches through injury, leaving teams with limited selection options.“My push within it, any time you’re playing more games in the same period of time, you don’t want it to be attritional,” he added. “You want the best players to be available. So, there should be a conversation around – yep, that’s great, you’ve landed at that, okay, what about the squad sizes?”McDonald also said larger squads would help teams manage injuries during a packed international schedule and ensure the biggest stars remain available throughout the tournament.“So let’s carry the best players in there. Give us larger squads to be able to navigate through the early part, and then hopefully the pinnacle event has the best players playing, rather than being ruled out early on due to injury and the attritional nature of a World Cup,” he further noted.He also questioned the new format, saying Associate nations may have fewer opportunities despite their recent growth in white-ball cricket.“It’s an interesting structure to a tournament. I think the Associate nations have probably been penalised a little bit in that,” he added.
